Deer Dropping In For Dinner In Backyards Around The Valley

A “Deer Crossing” sign stands on Upriver Drive near George and Pauline Julien’s house.

A “Deer Feeding” sign ought to be erected in the couple’s yard at 4607 N. Center, where deer have trampled the snow flat and given the couple’s backyard shrubs a complementary pruning.

“They’ve eaten most of them, but what the heck,” says George. “That’s our hobby, watching the deer in winter.”

It’s turning into a hobby all over the Valley, as deer, elk, and other wild animals are chased by deep snow into low-lying suburban neighborhoods. The animals, now healthy from a diet of lush summer grass, could begin dying of starvation as early as mid-January if the winter storms continue.

That said, many folks are asking themselves whether or not they should feed deer browsing in their yards.

“We neither encourage people or discourage people from feeding,” said Madonna Luers, state fish and wildlife department spokeswoman.

People can feed if they want, Luers says. There are just a few things good-intentioned folks need to remember.

When people begin a feeding program, they should continue until springtime, Luers says. Throwing out one bale of hay or a single bag of pellets isn’t going to help the animals survive the winter.

“People are creating dependencies, and they need to follow through until March or April,” Luers said.

As well, many people balk at the cost, which can run as high as $15 a month for a single deer.

“And there’s rarely just one deer,” Luers says.

Costs haven’t deterred customers at Aslin-Finch, where employees say they’ve been doing a bang-up business in not only deer chow, but wild-bird feed as well.

“If you count hay, we’ve sold about 18 tons of feed,” said Evan Morgan, an Aslin-Finch salesman. “Seventy percent of our profits last week came from just deer and bird lovers alone.”

Mike Bray, owner of Ponderosa Feed and Flower, 11424 E. Dishman-Mica, said sales of deer food has accounted for about half his business.

“Most people are feeding grain of some kind, corn, or alfalfa pellets,” Bray said. “They’re trying to keep the deer off their plants. They seem to really like to eat arborvitae (shrubs).”

Arlene Baldwin, 4619 N. Center, pointed out that the ice storm’s downed trees provide another unexpected food source. Near Baldwin’s Northwood home, a mother deer and her two fawns picked a fallen tree’s easy-to-reach branches clean of berries last week.

We’ve had tracks all over the yard, Baldwin said. Growing more serious, she says there’s a downside to having more deer in residential areas.

“One of them turned to roadkill down on Upriver,” she says.

That’s why people feeding the deer should do so in areas far away from traffic, says Joey McCanna, a fish and wildlife department biologist.

As well, drivers can avoid collisions by remembering that deer frequent stream-side areas and often follow each other across roads one at a time. If you see one deer in your headlights, slow down. Chances are, another will be springing right behind.

On average, six deer return to the Juliens’ yard each night, usually arriving just after dark.

“They sleep in the woods behind the house, and watch while George sets the table,” Pauline Julien says, pointing to snow pockmarked with thousands of small cloven hoofprints.

“We set out apples, cracked corn, and alfalfa pellets,” George says. “They like that cracked corn better than anything.”